I always enjoy these events, the kids love them, and this is a great campaign!

Leon Best, Newcastle United

Report by Natasha Bougourd

Around 100 young people from Highfield Middle School, St Bedes RC Primary School and Spring Gardens Primary School joined us for an anti-racism educational event at Newcastle United's St James' Park today. They took part in a variety of activities over the course of the day and were joined in the afternoon by very special guests Leon Best and Demba Ba!

The young people took part in two workshops led by SRtRC Education Workers Lizz Bennett and Laura Pidcock. The first, 'Who Am I?' involved rooting out underlying presumptions we have of people, and why this is. This activity focused on not judging people, and understanding that judging someone is the first step on the ladder towards racism. One young girl commented after the activity, "this reminds me of the idiom, 'don't judge a book by it's cover'".

The second activity, "Racism or Not Racism?" aimed at challenging common views on what is acceptable and what is not, such as the word "chinky", which the many of the young people were already aware, is a racist term.

Following these activities was a tour of the stadium, which the young people thoroughly enjoyed. They got the opportunity to visit the highest point of the stadium, as well as sit in the manager's seat in the dugout, and even visit the player's dressing room.

The Show Racism the Red Card DVD was then screened, before a Q&A session with SRtRC team members: Campaign Worker Jo Wallis and ex-professional footballers Olivier Bernard, John Anderson,Trevor Benjamin and Richard Offiong. They were joined by current Newcastle United stars Leon Best and Demba Ba. The young people were incredibly excited about the panel, with huge applause and whoops at the arrival Best and Ba!

The young people asked many informed questions, such as "have you ever experienced racism?", and one that particularly stood out, "we know black people can receive racism, but why can't white people receive racism too?". The panel dealt with the questions very well, and left the young people happy and well informed.

This was the most recent of many events Show Racism the Red Card has held at St James' Park, and we would like to thank Newcastle United for their continued support. After the event, Leon Best said "I always enjoy these events, the kids love them, and this is a great campaign".

Huge thanks to Newcastle United for their continued support of our campaign. Read their report on NUFC online.